Dollars & Sense: Fake sales - the discount deception

What to Know: Some retailers advertise big discounts using inflated or misleading original prices.Federal guidelines address deceptive price comparisons, including fictitious former prices.Checking price histories and comparing actual selling prices can help shoppers determine whether a sale is a genuine bargain. ORLANDO, Fla. – For anyone who shops, there’s a certain satisfaction in finding a great bargain. Fifty percent off, sixty percent off, sometimes even seventy percent off. Who doesn’t like getting something they want for a fraction of what it normally costs? And of course, the bigger the discount, the more tempting the deal.But what if that big discount isn’t nearly as big as the store wants you to believe? What if there was never a “deal” at all?Consider a jacket advertised at $100. With an original price tag of $200, that’s a 50% discount. And that sounds like a great deal – if that jacket ever actually sold for $200. What if it rarely, if ever, sold at that price, and $100 i